The election season is well and truly underway with two cross party debates on news programmes yesterday. Both were tackling critical societal issues; one on education and the other on social care. Alongside the economy, these areas are going to be key election battlegrounds. All six MPs representing these issues were men.
This may not be that surprising as the UK still lags behind many other countries in terms of the number of women in parliament. Only 19.5% of MPs in the House of Commons are women, and the UK comes in at a disappointing 62nd (out of 187 countries) on a global classification of women in parliament. The reasons for this dismal ranking are numerous, but much can be attributed to the UK’s first past the post electoral system.
There is a large gap between the rhetoric of the political parties about representation and the reality of who represents its citizens. Current polls suggest that the number of women in the next Parliament is likely to fall. In the week when we ‘celebrate’ International Women’s Day, where are all the women?
Dalia Ben-Galim, senior research fellow, ippr
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